Brady responds on Facebook post

[PSU_Chicago]

IMHO, the NFL lawyers have realized they have little ground to stand on in Federal Court as they are just making this up as they go along. They have all the text messages Tom sent the attendants already from the phones of the attendants. This whole destroying the phone thing is a manufactured media point to force Brady's hand to drop Federal appeal for a reduced sentence. As I look at it this was the only strategy/card they had to play... use court of public appeal to walk away with some type of victory and avoid federal oversight. It is clear to me the NFL had all the evidence in play already to render a decision (one that will never hold up in court) so it's the "destroyed phone strategy or die" approach. And yes, for the record, I am a die hard Pats fan and believe Tom likely encouraged the attendants to get the balls the way he liked them, which was as low as legally possible. This whole thing is akin to suspending a pitcher 40 games for using substance on a baseball. At least in that instance there would be a clearly stated policy to follow. As it stood in 2014 the fine was $25,000 to the team. Goodell is a joke of a crisis manager and has the consistency of a beachball in a hurricane.

Every other QB in the NFL is / was playing with the footballs. The NFL encouraged it with its agreement to let the teams provide the footballs.

I am not a Pats fan. This entire incident is ridiculous. Goodell needs to go. He is incompetent.

 

[PSUinCali]

And we as Penn State Fans wonder why the whole world thinks Joe knew and did absolutely nothing. This plus watching the Deflategate thing closely has led me to an understanding that it is all about fandom. If you are a fan of the team you will pay attention to details and look closely at everything that is said. If you hate the team in question you automatically think they are guilty and could care less about facts.

In this situation it makes me absolutely perplexed why so many people believe Roger Godell. This man lied about everything in the Ray Rice saga and has consistently shaded the way he presents info but non Patriot fans are quick to take his word at face value. I see Penn State fans who are all over the Freeh Report as being biased and having an agenda then turn around and fail to see any kind of agenda in the Wells report. We would accept the rebuttal report to the Freeh report but won't even look at or read the rebuttal report to the Wells report.

I know it is far fetched to believe but doesn't it make more sense that Godell needed a new scandal to take the heat off of him and the NFL about the domestic abuse lack of proper punishments. He needed a "hey look over here" issue to distract people from questioning what he knew and when about video on Ray Rice issue.

It is scary that we can see the BOT misdirection and the OAG misdirection and the NCAA misdirection but could care less about the snake Roger Godell doing the same exact thing. This was just plain and simple a great PR opportunity to show the league strong on discipline. People are so short sighted that it has obviously worked.

I despise Brady and the Patriots, but it's hard not to agree with your post. The only difference is Brady is alive to defend himself and (guilty or innocent) will get due process. JoePa was never afforded any of these opportunities (dead men tell no tales).

 

[Ten Thousan Marbles]

I am very disappointed by the NFL’s decision to uphold the 4 game suspension against me. I did nothing wrong, and no one in the Patriots organization did either.

Despite submitting to hours of testimony over the past 6 months, it is disappointing that the Commissioner upheld my suspension based upon a standard that it was “probable” that I was “generally aware” of misconduct. The fact is that neither I, nor any equipment person, did anything of which we have been accused. He dismissed my hours of testimony and it is disappointing that he found it unreliable.

I also disagree with yesterdays narrative surrounding my cellphone. I replaced my broken Samsung phone with a new iPhone 6 AFTER my attorneys made it clear to the NFL that my actual phone device would not be subjected to investigation under ANY circumstances. As a member of a union, I was under no obligation to set a new precedent going forward, nor was I made aware at any time during Mr. Wells investigation, that failing to subject my cell phone to investigation would result in ANY discipline.

Most importantly, I have never written, texted, emailed to anybody at anytime, anything related to football air pressure before this issue was raised at the AFC Championship game in January. To suggest that I destroyed a phone to avoid giving the NFL information it requested is completely wrong.

To try and reconcile the record and fully cooperate with the investigation after I was disciplined in May, we turned over detailed pages of cell phone records and all of the emails that Mr. Wells requested. We even contacted the phone company to see if there was any possible way we could retrieve any/all of the actual text messages from my old phone. In short, we exhausted every possibility to give the NFL everything we could and offered to go thru the identity for every text and phone call during the relevant time. Regardless, the NFL knows that Mr. Wells already had ALL relevant communications with Patriots personnel that either Mr. Wells saw or that I was questioned about in my appeal hearing. There is no “smoking gun” and this controversy is manufactured to distract from the fact they have zero evidence of wrongdoing.

I authorized the NFLPA to make a settlement offer to the NFL so that we could avoid going to court and put this inconsequential issue behind us as we move forward into this season. The discipline was upheld without any counter offer. I respect the Commissioners authority, but he also has to respect the CBA and my rights as a private citizen. I will not allow my unfair discipline to become a precedent for other NFL players without a fight.

Lastly, I am overwhelmed and humbled by the support of family, friends and our fans who have supported me since the false accusations were made after the AFC Championship game. I look forward to the opportunity to resume playing with my teammates and winning more games for the New England Patriots.

If we are being totally honest here, and I don't expect Pats fans to be honest, we really ought to be expecting further action from the NFL based on statements/actions taken by Brady and Kraft and maybe others today. So far, they are getting off way to easy.

 

[Obliviax]

I despise Brady and the Patriots, but it's hard not to agree with your post. The only difference is Brady is alive to defend himself and (guilty or innocent) will get due process. JoePa was never afforded any of these opportunities (dead men tell no tales).

I don't know.

A) No way an equipment manager messes with the footballs without permission from the superstar QB and/or HC. No way I believe he acted on his own without some level of permission. Now, it could be that he meant to under-inflate them but still within a permissible level
B) I understand TB (of all people) wanting to keep his texts private. But the timing and 'destroying' of the phone is very suspect.

Had he just fessed up, they'd have been fined a few bucks and (maybe) lost of fourth round draft pick). But they had to take the tough road and here they are. Now, its a power play at the Union has a CBA that allows the commissioner to do exactly as he just did.

I'd be shocked if TB gets anywhere. My guess is that he makes a stink up until week one then makes a statement that he's accepting the punishment for the good of the team/league.